Saxony (German: Sachsen) is one of the traditional German states and has a long history. It comprised the territory located between Berlin and the Erzgebirge mountains. Small sections of old Saxony now belong to Poland and that's why it is described here. A significant part of inhabitants of Saxony have always been the Slavonic Lusatians (or Wends) whose language is akin to Polish and Czech. During some periods in the 18th century there was a personal union between Saxony and Poland.

In 1815 about half of the Saxon territory was annexed by Prussia. Those regions which now belong to Poland, were incorporated into the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg and Silesia. Only a small portion of the district of Zittau, east of the Neisse River, still belonged to Saxony. After 1945 the Neisse River became the boundary between Poland and Germany and this small area also became part of Poland. The remainder constitutes the current State of Saxony in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The eastern regions of Saxony are shown on the map of Silesia (at the left). The territory of Saxony after 1815 is marked in green and the areas then lost to Brandenburg are marked in brown. The region then acquired by Silesia is shown in yellow. The pink line is the present border between Poland and Germany.

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